Hang out with Enrique Sanchez for just 10 minutes, you will feel like you have been transported to Nicaragua. He absolutely oozes with pride and love for cigars and the industry as a whole. His passion for his cigars is second to none. We had some time to go over his upcoming release which he felt needed to stay true to his home Nicaragua and be 100% Nicaraguan. He did this by pulling tobaccos from four major regions Esteli, Condega, Jalapa, and Ometepe. By doing this has created a true Nicaraguan experience in a cigar. He was gracious to offer one for review at IPCPR 2014 and that is fully reviewed below.

I was able to pick up this Reserve Edicion Especial at the Gurkha booth during IPCPR 2014. Upon entering the display we were met by a very friendly sales representative who showed us all of the new blends coming out, and even offered us a cigar to smoke while we looked around. The Gurkha display was huge, one of the largest at the show, not surprising considering their multitude of offerings. We were even treated to a special showing of the new Xtreme cigar and a prototype of the box.

I stopped by the Warped Cigars booth at IPCPR2014 as was greeted by Kyle Gellis, president of Warped Cigars. The first thing that stood out to me was the amazing attention to detail in absolutely everything within the booth. Kyle has amazing design style and it shows in all aspects of his business. Cigars are just the tip of the iceberg. He offers up the “jaridor”, a 25-count badass humidor. Sophistication oozing travel cigar cases, and botl bracelets that will have you begging to find one to purchase, if you can. These products are often limited run and exclusive. If that wasn’t enough, you then have his cigars. Oh how good are these cigars. As Kyle showed me around, he described the superb craftsmanship that has been put into every single cigar. A classic Cuban triple cap on his El Oso cigar and classic Cuban foot on the La Colmena, all masterfully rolled by true category 9 rollers all hailing from Cuba. I was given a La Colmena to try and good lord is it a thing of beauty, review is below.

I had the chance to stop by and chat with the guys from Crux Cigars at IPCPR 2014. The first thing I noticed when approaching the booth was the attention to detail. There was a red Swarovski crystal in the X of their name on every piece of merchandise. This draws you in and makes you wonder what else do they put that much detail into. The short answer is EVERYTHING!. Casey Haugen and Joel Rogers took the time to go through the lineup of this years releases. The stand out aspect of Crux is the packaging, its unlike any other boxing I have seen. They give retailers the choice on how to display them. One side of the box are the individual cigars. The other side is a nicely packaged 5-pack of cigars. This is genius and I know the consumer will appreciate it, hell I appreciate it and it looks awesome. They were gracious enough to provide a sample of the “Classic” which is reviewed below.

IPCPR 2014 marks the first year that La Sirena Cigars are on their own, separated from Miami Cigar Company. Arielle purchased the distribution rights from Miami Cigar Company and continues to manage the brand. This also marks the launch of Oceano which was created with the help of Erik Espinosa’s La Zona Cigars S.A., via the Quesada Factory in the Dominican Republic. This has allowed their owner Arielle to fully realize her passion of cigars and have complete control over the brands production. I had the chance to speak with her about the state of the industry and La Sirena’s part in it. They are focused on producing high quality flavor packed cigars that are in my opinion some of the best I have smoked. I was very impressed with the lineup and had the chance to review the Oceano cigar, reviewed below.